Apple's TV 4K gets an A12 Bionic-powered upgrade with a new intuitive remote

Apple's freshly-completed 2021 Special Event has introduced the new M1-powered iMac and iPad Pro. These new devices also had a long-awaited warm-up act: the new 4K TV box. This new smart-home accessory is powered by the A12 Bionic processor that propelled the iPhones and iPads of its day to the top of their respective performance charts.

From its new and all-recycled-aluminium vehicle, the chipset confers high frame rate HDR and Dolby Vision support on the Apple TV 4K 2021. The Cupertino giant also asserts that it can handle color calibration for a given TV. This is done by letting the set-top device "see" a big screen's colors through a a user's iPhone's front-facing light sensor and comparing this input to a film industry-grade standard.

A user will never feel the need to adjust the contrast or color of their TV again after that, or so Apple claims. The box can still obviously have settings adjusted, however, which is done via the new and updated remote. It is rated to respond to gestures such as swipes and rotations as well as clicks through its new D-pad-like wheel, which also facilitates the potentially improved ability to scrub through timelines.

The new Apple TV 4K remote also has a Siri button on the side, as with an iPhone. Support for the virtual assistant on this platform has also been rolled out to New Zealand, Ireland and Austria today. The OEM also asserts that the new box integrates completely with its software ecosystem; therefore, services from Arcade to Fitness+ should easily be called up on a home's main screen.

The Apple TV 4K 2021 has been priced at US$179 for a SKU with 32GB of internal storage, or $199 for a 64GB variant. They, like the rest of the new hardware announced today, can be ordered from April 30, 2021, and will ship from May. This might make last-gen Apple TVs a good deal on Amazon soon.